There is nothing like coming home after a long, exhausting day. Whether you own or rent, there is something uniquely comforting about going home. But what happens if you take a tumble when coming home to your apartment complex?
Broadly, a landlord can be held liable for slip and fall accidents on their rental properties if there was a dangerous condition in common areas or even inside of a unit in some circumstances. Through a personal injury lawsuit, you can recover financial compensation for all of your losses, including medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. Our Long Island premises liability attorneys will fight to get you maximum compensation for your injuries.
Based in Melville, The Odierno Law Firm Accident and Injury Lawyers represent accident victims in Suffolk and Nassau Counties. We offer free initial consultations to all prospective clients and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. To learn more or to schedule an appointment with a Long Island personal injury lawyer, reach out to our law firm today.
Can You Sue a Landlord for a Slip and Fall Accident at an Apartment Complex?
In New York, property owners have a legal obligation to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. If a person falls and gets hurt on their property, then the owner may be held financially responsible for their losses. When it comes to rental properties, landlords can potentially be sued for any damages suffered by a tenant in a slip and fall.
As a general matter, property owners have an obligation to prevent harm to people who come onto their premises due to hazardous conditions. This duty varies based on the reason why a person is on a property:
- Invitees are people who come onto a premises for the benefit of the property owner, such as a customer of a business. Property owners have an obligation to fix or warn invitees about known dangers and to regularly inspect the premises to learn about any potential hazards.
- Licensees are people who enter a property for social purposes, such as a friend who stops by your house to visit. Property owners owe a lower duty of care to licensees, but still must fix or warn about known dangerous conditions and periodically inspect their property.
- Trespassers are people who come onto a property without permission. Under New York law, property owners still owe trespassers a duty to use reasonable care, but do not have to affirmatively go out and search for, fix, or warn about hazards.
Tenants are considered invitees in New York. They are at a rental property because of their business relationship with the landlord. This means that landlords owe tenants a duty to regularly inspect the rental property for hazardous conditions and to either fix or warn tenants of known unsafe conditions on the property.
If you fall at your Long Island apartment complex, you may be able to file a lawsuit against your landlord. To win your case, you will need to show the following:
- Your landlord owed you a duty of care;
- Your landlord failed to meet that duty of care;
- You suffered an injury; and
- This injury was caused by your landlord’s failure to meet the duty of care.
These cases are very fact-dependent. Your ability to successfully sue your landlord will depend on where you were when the fall happened, the type of dangerous condition, and whether or not the landlord knew or should have known about it.
Slips and Falls In Common Areas of the Apartment Complex
Apartment complexes often have a lot of common areas, such as parking lots, stairways, sidewalks, lobbies, and hallways. If you fall in a common area, then you can potentially sue your landlord if your fall was caused by a dangerous condition. As with falls inside your apartment, a landlord’s liability will depend on the facts of the case.
Consider a situation where you fall on an icy sidewalk leading to the front door of the apartment building. If your landlord is responsible for snow and ice removal, then you could sue them for your injuries (provided that it was not an unexpected ice storm and the landlord had time to get the sidewalks cleared).
If your lease includes a provision that makes you responsible for snow and ice removal, then you might not be able to sue the landlord for your fall. This type of requirement would be unusual in a lease for a unit in an apartment complex, but it may exist. If you were responsible for the area and did not take appropriate steps to keep the sidewalk safe, then you probably could not sue your landlord for your losses.
Broadly, if there is a dangerous condition in the common areas of your apartment complex, the landlord can be liable if a tenant falls. The injured party (plaintiff) will have to prove that the landlord (defendant) either knew or should have known about the hazard and that they failed to fix or warn about it. Our Long Island premises liability lawyers can help you build a strong case for compensation in apartment complex slip and fall cases.
Slips and Falls Inside Your Apartment
If you fall inside your apartment, then your landlord may or may not be liable for your injuries. It will all come down to the reason for your fall and whether the landlord knew or should have known about it.
For example, consider a situation where your ceiling has a leak, causing water to puddle on your tiled kitchen floor. If you slip and fall on the water, causing a knee injury, you might be able to sue your landlord. The key would be proving that the landlord knew about the leak and didn’t do anything to fix it.
If the leak sprang unexpectedly and the landlord wasn’t yet aware of it, they probably won’t be liable. If the leak had been going on for several days and you complained about it, but they delayed fixing it, they could be responsible for your injuries. If the landlord knew that there were plumbing problems at the apartment complex, even without you specifically complaining about it, they may also have some liability for falls if they didn’t fix the issue.
Importantly, New York is a comparative negligence state. Under this law, you can still recover for your losses even if you were up to 99% at fault for an accident. Your total recovery will be reduced by the percentage that you were deemed responsible for the injury.
In the example above, comparative negligence may come into play if you knew about the leak and the issue of water pooling on the kitchen floor. A jury may decide that you should have been more careful when walking in that area and assign you 30% fault for the slip and fall. If you suffered $100,000 in losses, then your recovery would be reduced by $30,000 to $100,000.
Our Long Island slip and fall attorneys will analyze your case to determine if you can potentially sue your landlord for your injuries. We will fight back against arguments that you were partially at fault and will work to get you a fair settlement for your injuries.
Compensation for an Apartment Complex Injury Case
In any New York personal injury case, the plaintiff may be entitled to recover up to 3 types of damages: economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. Economic and non-economic damages are known as compensatory damages. Punitive damages are only awarded in more unusual cases where a defendant acted intentionally or recklessly.
Economic damages pay for a person’s financial losses. They may include money for property damage, medical expenses, future medical treatment, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity. Depending on the facts of your case, you may recover economic damages for other types of losses, such as assistive devices or transportation costs for you to go to and from medical appointments.
Non-economic damages cover a different type of loss: emotional harm. Examples of non-economic damages include pain and suffering, reduced quality of life, scarring, disfigurement, and emotional distress. These damages can be harder to prove, but they are just as important for a full recovery.
Punitive damages are not awarded in cases involving regular negligence, such as a landlord failing to clear a snowy, icy sidewalk. Instead, they are limited to cases where a person acted intentionally or recklessly (like throwing water on a sidewalk during a cold snap to create icy conditions). The goal of punitive damages is to punish a wrongdoer rather than compensate an accident victim.
Our law firm is adept at helping clients get maximum compensation for their injuries. Whenever possible, we negotiate a good settlement that covers all of our clients’ losses. If the insurance company won’t offer a fair settlement, we will take your case to court to get you the compensation that you deserve.
Help for Tenants in Long Island Slip and Fall Cases
Falls can cause serious injuries, including broken bones, head injuries, and more. If you are hurt in a fall at your apartment complex, you might be able to file a lawsuit against your landlord. Our team of seasoned Long Island slip and fall attorneys will work to get you maximum compensation for your injuries.
At The Odierno Law Firm Accident and Injury Lawyers, we have deep experience handling all types of premises liability claims. If you have been hurt in a fall at your apartment complex, we can help you build a strong case for compensation. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a Long Island slip and fall lawyer, give our law firm a call at 631-973-6221 or fill out our online contact form.